Hey gang,

Officially, my trip is over. But I am not home yet. My connecting flight from Newark to Halifax was delayed because of weather. No surprise there, I should have bet my year’s salary on it or something!

Overall, the trip has been amazing. I know I didn’t post much about Singapore and Malaysia. Mainly because that portion of the trip can be summed up with two words: EATING and SHOPPING. I think I might have gone a little stir crazy, but I did find a lot of great deals. Even clothes that will last me through the winter! How amazing is that?

Pictures will be posted soon.

Hey everyone,

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I am spending Christmas in Malaysia . We ate such great food, went shopping and played a bit of Malaysian style Mahjong! So much fun

It is strange not to see snow and real Christmas trees, but it is quite nice to be in the heat. My cousins still don’t understand my love for it.

Cheers,

Angeline

ohh hello world.

I am at the last lag of my journey – Singapore. Yesterday was my first full day in town and so far it has been a blast. I am attempting to visit family and now only realize that my time is so limited. It makes me very sad.

Wow, so I better give some quick highlights of what has happened since the end of my tour. I stayed in Shanghai for a few days with my Uncle. Essentially, I just hung out with him. It was pretty nice. Then I decided to take a little trip down to the “town” of Hangzhou. This city is best known for its silk and tea production. And probably more famous for its beauty. West Lake is THE famous lake that has several writings, paintings, songs etc. …and rightly so. Even under mist and fog it is beautiful.  I met some wonderful people as I traveled around.

I returned to Shanghai, and the following day left for Shenzhen. Although my stay was short it was wonderful to see Sarah and meet her husband Jimmy! The following day I flew to Guilin and got a ride to Yangshuo. I can only say that the beauty there cannot be compared to anything else I have seen. The mountains are so unqiue! There are over 2000+ of these “mini mountains” that jut out of the landscape. It is a place that definitely holds a special place in my heart.  Two of the biggest highlights was rock climbing and cycling in the country side.

After a short stay, (wish I had more time! There is so much to do and see), I planned to head back to Shenzhen to hangout with Sarah and Jimmy…that was a complete failure and probably deserves a post in itself. Long story short, plane was delayed and I ended up crashing at a hotel. I had to leave for HK the next day.

HK was beautiful and pretty amazing. I could definitely live there. The sights, sounds and food was … well I just can’t put words into it. Loved every minute of it.

Thinking about everything I have done makes me miss it! I am having computer issues. I hope to resolve them soon.

Hmm…so  I haven’t been saying much. I went to visit the beautiful city of Yangshuo and now I am in HK. I’d write something longer, but this keyboard sucks.

Hey everyone,

Yesterday, I arrived in Shenzhen, China. I flew with China Eastern Airlines. I was amazed at the size of the aircraft (one of those huge ones with four seats i the middle) for a domestic flight. I really shouldn’t be surprised..China does have 1.3 billion people. Filling domestic flights shouldn’t be a problem. But it is one of those differences that you notice when living in Canada. In many ways, I appreciate living in Canada. However, there are things (like flight choices) I wish we had. If Canada could only increase its population…we definitely have the landmass to support such growth. Wouldn’t it be funny if the government implemented a “have more children” policy? Sort of sounds like Singapore…

Anyhow, I will finish updating you on how the rest of the tour went.

Day 7 -9: Shanghai, China

By this time I became a little ill. All the traveling and lack of sleep really took a toll on my body. I needed a good rest, and took them in 30min nap increments!

Overall, Shanghai was a lot of fun. The city is really bustling (especially on the weekends). The food is great, and there are a lot of activities that you can do. Really, there is no shortage of things. We did many activities including: watching an acrobatic show, going to the Shanghai Museum, going up JinMao Towers and going on a boat cruise along the Bund.

I got a kick out of the acrobatic show. It is full of cheese. The show can use some updating, and definitely reminds me of something that came out of the 90’s. One of the “highlight” performances was the silk dance. There are  two dancers and two pieces of silk cloth hanging from the top. They essentially tumble up and down. I’ve seen it before in performances done by Cirque du Soliel. Anyhow, they were dancing to “My Heart will go on” by Celine Dion. I wanted to laugh so hard. (The actual dancing was quite beautiful, but the music made it laughable) Apparently the people love the song. They are also obsessed with music by Whitney Houston.

Well it is nearly lunch time. I should get ready.

Wow. It is half way through my trip (well almost I think). I am heading to Shenzhen, China to see a friend, Sarah! I am super pumped. It will be nice to see some friendly faces. Also, it will be warmer. Like 20C!

Hi Gang,

I got back from Hangzhou, China late last night. What an amazing city! I am really glad I had a chance to go there. Hangzhou is famous for many things including its silk, and tea production (longjing, or Dragon well). However, it is probably bst known for its beautiful scenery and landscape – West Lake and the Leifeng Pagoda. The days I was there was overcast and misty, but I think it added to the mystery of the lake. It also truly reminded me of the water colour paintings. In Hangzhou I met some wonderful people! It was truly a blast, and definitely has given more self-confidence.

Tonight I am staying in. I am going to enjoy a nice cup of hot water (haha!), and watch a few movies. Uncle has gone out for dinner as it is his last night in Shanghai. Instead of eating some amazing meal (I already did that today), I am eating some instant noodle. I guess it will always be a staple in my life!

Day 6:

Suzhou is another beautiful city surrounded by canals and bridges. The inner city seems to be perserved well. As you move out of the city, the tall skyscapers and large highways become more apparent. We visited the a beautiful Chinese garden called “The Master of Nets” – I think the garden in Vancouver  is based on this one. It is very similar. Anyhow, this one definitely is 10x better. The attention to detail always blows my mind. The photographer definitely came out, and I definitely did a mini photoshoot with my group members. One couple was on their honeymoon so we called it their “honeymoon photoshoot”. Too funny! Later, some of the group members went on a gondola ride on the Canal. I opted to just walk along the canal at the end. I really enjoyed it. The people who live there have probably lived there for most of their lives. Jack informed me that the property just gets passed along to each generation, the real value of the land is unknown because they never go up for sale. After the walk, we taxied it over to the silk factory. We watched how silk was made. Suzhou is also known for its silk production. Absolutely gorgeous stuff – probably should have bought some silk PJs…but honestly, it really doesn’t suit my personality.

Well, I am going to head off. Tomorrow is going to be busy. I will be heading to Shenzhen. The following day head to Guilin, stay there for a couple of nights and back to Shezhen then HK! I can’t believe how quickly the time is passing.

Hi gang,
I am Hangzhou China. Ive met a friend who is staying at the same hostel. His name is Réjean, super nice guy from Montréal! It is nice to see another fellow Canadian. We are just hanging out an expat bar right now enjoying a martini. I didnt realize how much I missed it!
Well I will update more later,
Angeline

Hey,

Sorry it has been a while since I have updated everyone on what is going on. Things have been busy and finding time to write a post seems to be getting harder. I guess the last time I gave a proper update was about Xi’an. I was on my way to the dumpling banquet.

Let me tell you, that banquet was amazing. We tasted 20 different kinds of dumplings! (I didn’t know that even existed..) After the banquet, we headed towards the bar area and chatted. They had a little band singing some old Chinese songs from the 70’s…of some I actually recognized! (Shout out to mom. Thanks for making me listen to that CD over and over again for years!)

Day 5:

Day 5 was our last day in Xi’an before we headed on another overnight train to Suzhou. In the morning,we took a bike ride on the city wall. It was amazing. I always thought that the city wall surrounding Old Quebec city was pretty fantastic, but this one blows it out of the water. My legs have been getting quite the workout. I have really nice toned calves now There was such an interesting contrast between the old and new. It was great to see these towering buildings surround the outer wall, and the inner wall incapsulated the history. Beautiful.

For lunch we ate hot pot (ummy!, my favourite) and was treated to a “noodle dance” …I have it in on video. It is pretty amusing. The food, of course, was delicious. After lunch we headed to the Muslim Quarters. This is where there are many street vendors and shops selling “touristy” kinds of things. Jack attempted to take a group of us to another jade shop, but it was closed when we arrived. We broke off into two groups – the girls wanted to do more shopping, and Jack, Doug and I went off to play soccer at a nearby university. Did you know that Xi’an has 20 universities! It was a good time, I managed to score a point!

The overnight train to Suzhou was …well exhasuting. I didn’t get much sleep it was 15 hours.

Sorry for the lack of pictures – I haven’t been able to download much. I will tell you more about Suzhou later. Right now, I need to figure out my plans for the next two days. I think I am going to head to Hangzhou.

That’s me. Sleeping on the plane.:)

We are heading to Shanghai today. Suzhou is a wonderful city. It is littered with beautiful gardens, canals and weeping willows. However, I think one of the best times I had was learning to play a Chinese card game and playing mahjong. I didn’t win overall, but I did make a few bucks.